Coming Home
by wherehopelies
Summary: "Brittany's always imagined this day..." AU sequel of my story They Bring Me Back. College!Cass, Cassverse. Brittany's POV. Tumblr anon prompt. Leave one in my inbox if you have one.


Brittany always imagined the day she'd have to drop her baby off at college. She just didn't think it'd be so soon. Or that she'd be this young.

Or that the baby didn't actually come out of her vagina.

Despite all that, she's totally excited. And a little sad. But mostly excited.

"Cass come on!"

She hears faint grumbling coming from the stairwell. "Britt. We're coming."

"If she would've carried one of these bags, we'd be there by now."

"If you weren't such a drama queen, we'd be there by now."

"I should've just dropped you off and drove away." There's a loud thump. "Ow Cass, what the fuck!"

"Sorry it's heavy."

"Drop that on my foot one more time and I will endz you."

Brittany rolls her eyes. They might be her two favorite people on the whole planet, but Santana and Cass can't do anything without arguing and it drives her insane. It's endearing but like, ain't nobody got time for that.

Finally the two of them make it up the stairs and are standing next to her in the hallway, a load of boxes and suitcases in their arms.

"Do you remember which one it is?" Brittany asks Cass who is breathing heavily with her hands on her hips and looking around curiously.

"It's 411," Santana says and Cass nods in agreement.

"Yeah, 411," Cass says. "Maybe Riley is there already."

Cass leads the way down the hall and Santana sighs as she hoists a box higher on her hip. Brittany takes the suitcase from her so she can hold the box with two hands. She would've helped carry them up the stairs, but she bet Santana that Cass wouldn't freak out on the drive there and well, a bet's a bet.

See, Brittany has seen Cass freak out before and she knows she doesn't do it in public or visibly at all. So she won the bet, but she wouldn't be surprised if Cass had been panicking the whole drive over the bridge.

She smiles at Santana who grimaces back in an attempt to smile. Brittany is reminded of the first time she took Santana to meet her parents. She thinks it's cute Santana's so nervous now.

"She's going to be fine," Brittany whispers.

"Yeah," Santana whispers back. "But she's in _Brooklyn_ now, Britt. We're leaving her all alone in _Brooklyn_. What were we thinking?"

Brittany resists the urge to roll her eyes again and bumps Santana with her hip. "Stop it."

They get to room 411, where Cass struggles to turn the key in the lock. Finally the door swings open and Brittany gets her first glimpse of Cass' home for the next year. The room is tiny, as is to be expected. Two beds, two desks, microwave, and a mini fridge.

One of the beds is empty, but a girl is sitting on the other one, legs dangling over the side while she furiously texts on her cell phone. She has dark hair and is wearing trendy glasses. Large headphones hang around her neck. She's wearing a purple and black flannel, black skinny jeans and scuffed, worn-down black chucks.

"Umm," Cass says. "You're not, Riley."

Brittany almost wants to tell Cass not to be rude, but she helped Cass stalk her future roommate on Facebook, and this girl most definitely is not blonde, hippie Riley.

The girl looks up from her phone and Brittany sees that she's Asian. "Nope." She hops off the bed and flips her long bangs out of her eyes. "I'm Margot. M-A-R-G-O-T. The "t" is silent." She holds out her hand, which Cass eyes warily.

"What happened to Riley?"

Next to Brittany, Santana shifts uncomfortably. Brittany leans into her to calm her down before Santana's mean side comes out. She knows Santana's fuse is short today because she's wound up with worry and anxiety.

The girl, Margot, shrugs. "Room swap, I guess."

"Oh," Cass says uncertainly. Then she sets down the box she's carrying and finally shakes the girl's hand. "Well, I'm Cass."

"Cool," Margot says, nodding her head. "This your sister?"

"You serious?" Santana snaps. "Rude much?"

"_Santana_," Brittany hisses.

Cass laughs loudly. "This is my aunt, Santana. And this is Brittany." Cass nods her head in their direction and Brittany offers a small wave.

"Hi."

Santana grunts.

"_Santana_," Brittany hisses again.

"Hello," Santana stiffly murmurs.

Margot raises an eyebrow.

Cass shifts awkwardly on her feet.

"Well," Brittany says. "I'm sure you guys are going to have a fantastic year."

There's an uncomfortable silence before Santana sighs. "Do you want help unpacking, Cass?"

"Umm," Cass glances around the room. "I think I got it."

"Are you sure?" Santana fidgets. "I mean, we could stay a little while longer."

Cass rolls her eyes, but Brittany senses some false bravado in front of Margot, although the girl has gone back to texting on her phone and isn't paying any attention to Cass. "It's fine, Tía. I got it."

"Okay, but we could – "

"Alright then, Cass, we'll just leave you guys to get to know one another," Brittany interrupts.

"Yeah, okay," Cass nods.

Brittany steps forward and pulls the girl into her arms, noticing how tightly Cass squeezes her back. The feeling makes her die a little. She always imagined this day. She just never imagined it would make her heart seize up so much.

"Call us when you get settled, okay?" Brittany says quietly as she pulls away.

"Okay." Cass smiles gently and Brittany aches in ways she's never ached before. She tries to remember how excited she is for Cass and feels something in her stomach settle slightly. She smiles back and nods her head in Santana's direction.

"Bye, Tía," Cass says.

Santana clears her throat. "Yeah, take care. And you know, try not to get expelled or anything. I don't have time to drive here and move you back out, so."

"Yeah, I'll make a note not to do that." Cass laughs and hugs Santana. Santana releases her quickly, like she might not be able to let go at all if she hangs on for any longer.

"Keep in touch," Santana says.

"Let us know if you forgot anything and we'll send it to you," Brittany adds.

Cass nods. "Okay, okay." She rolls her eyes good-naturedly and Brittany gets the hint.

"Bye Cass! Have fun!" She grabs Santana by the arm and pushes her into the hall. "Love you!"

"Love you, too."

"Watch the freshman fifteen!" Santana yells, but the door closes behind them and Santana slumps her shoulders. "I can't believe we just did that."

"Why not?" Brittany smiles and takes Santana's hand as they walk down the hallway.

"I don't know," Santana says. "She's so young still. Just a kid."

Brittany squeezes Santana's hand once, falling in love with her wife more and more. "Babe, she's not a kid. She's a _woman_. She's going to be nineteen in a few months."

Santana scoffs. "That doesn't mean anything."

"You and I both know she's mature enough. She's been through a lot."

"Yeah, I know." Santana sighs.

Brittany giggles. "Stop worrying so much. Plus, guess what," she says with a sly grin.

"What?"

"It's just you and me now, baby. Let's go make use of our big empty apartment."

Santana rolls her eyes but smiles Brittany's favorite Santana smile, the one where her cute dimples pop out. "Yeah, okay. If you insist."

"Oh," Brittany says. "I do."

* * *

After the first few days, she doesn't hear from Cass for a week. She knows Santana texts her a few times a day because she's been worrying endlessly and Santana has complained to her more than once that Cass is pretty tightlipped about what's going on in her big, new world. Brittany knows Cass just needs space and time to settle into college life.

She finally talks to Cass on the phone her first Friday away from home and it's not at all what Brittany had been expecting to hear.

She's just getting home from a long day at school and she's exhausted. Dodgeball Day always does that to her. She hears Santana before she sees her, and she follows the loud laugh into the kitchen where her wife is sitting at the table.

"You said that?" Santana laughs some more into the phone pressed against her ear. "You're such a bitch."

Brittany hears some muted exclamation coming from the phone.

"I'm sorry," Santana laughs again. "I can't with this right now. That's priceless."

More muted yelling.

"That's not _my_ problem." Santana sees Brittany and smiles in acknowledgement. "Here tell Britt about it. She can probably give you better advice. I still say just cut the bitch." There's a pause. "Uh huh. Whatever. Here's B."

Santana hands Brittany the phone before she kisses Brittany on the cheek and walks off to their bedroom, laughing the whole way. Brittany eagerly holds the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Britt," Cass whines and Brittany smiles. She'll probably never get over how alike Santana and Cass sound sometimes.

"Hey, what's up? How are you?"

"Awful." There's a long pause. "I fucked up, Britt."

Brittany raises her eyebrows in concern. "What? How? What happened?"

"It's Margot," Cass whispers. "I pissed her off and now she's going to murder me in my sleep."

Brittany almost laughs, but manages to restrain herself. "That's a bit dramatic."

"I'm serious!"

"What happened?"

"Well," Cass begins. "So I came home from class, right? And Margot's standing there looking all angry. And I, being the super awesome and nice person that I am, go, 'what's wrong?' And Margot's like 'the fuckin' piece of shit printer I have broke.' And I'm all, like totally sympathetic, right?"

"Uh huh…" Brittany says, waiting patiently for the rest of the story.

"And Margot's all, 'fuckin' piece of shit made-in-China contraption.' And I was trying to, you know, dispel the tension or whatever. So I'm like, 'hey at least you guys have something in common!' But she didn't get it. So she was like, 'the fuck are you talking about?' and I'm like, 'because you both were made in China ha ha get it?' and she stares at me for a second, then all bitchy-like goes, 'I'm Vietnamese.'"

There's a long pause where Brittany doesn't really know what to say. Eventually she's able to murmur, "Oh."

"Yes!" Cass practically screams. "So now she's going to murder me in my sleep!"

"I still think that's a bit dramatic," Brittany begins.

"Dramatic?!" Cass interrupts. "I insulted her heritage! She's coming for me, Britt, you'll see. Santana says I should get her before she gets me."

Brittany smiles to herself. "You could just apologize."

Cass makes a noise into the phone.

"What?" Brittany sits down in the chair Santana vacated, feels some tension roll out of her back after her long day, and sighs in relief.

"I just…" Cass sighs. "I kind of hate Margot."

Brittany's lips thin in sympathy. "Aww. Why? I'm sure she's not that bad. She looked pretty cool."

"I know," Cass whines. "But like, I think she thinks I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Brittany responds immediately.

"I know I'm not. I just think _Margot_ thinks I am."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it. She like, always has to one-up me or tell me I'm wrong about things. She critiques my technique all the time. And I know I'm not perfect, but I don't know, that's kind of why I'm here, you know? To learn and stuff…"

Brittany's heart squeezes at the uncertainty in Cass' voice. "Totally," Brittany says gently.

"And oh my God Britt. Every time she meets someone new, Margot goes, 'I'm Margot. M-A-R-G-O-T. The 't' is silent.' It's so annoying."

"Hmmm." Brittany murmurs. "Cass, I'm sure you're just getting used to her. Give it time."

"Ugh," Cass groans.

"It'll be fine, I promise. Why don't you just apologize and try to get along with her, okay? Maybe it'll turn out better than you expect."

Cass sighs. "Yeah. Maybe."

At that moment, a very high-pitched scream comes from the back of the apartment.

"BRITT!"

"What!" Brittany yells. "Santana, I'm on the phone."

"BRITT THERE'S A HUGE FUCKING SPIDER PLEASE GET IT FOR ME!"

Brittany rolls her eyes. "Alright, I'm coming. In a minute."

"Wanky," Cass says.

Brittany snorts. "Shut up. Your aunt's trapped in the bathroom. By a spider."

"BRITT HURRY!"

"I have to go, Cass."

"Okay."

"B!"

"ALRIGHT," Brittany yells.

"I'll try to apologize to Margot, I guess."

"That's a good idea. Please try to keep an open mind." Brittany pauses. "Remember, you're important."

She can practically see Cass' repressed smile. "Yeah, yeah."

Brittany smiles hugely. "I miss you."

"Miss you, too."

"BRITTANY!"

She hears Cass laugh. "You're torturing her, B."

"Oh, she's fine. She's being dramatic. I should probably go, though."

"Yeah, okay. Bye, Britt."

"Bye Cass."

Brittany hangs up the phone and shakes her head as Santana screams again. Yes, she thinks, dramatics must run in the family.

* * *

Santana misses Cass. That's what Brittany thinks as she walks in on her wife sitting on the couch and staring into space one afternoon.

Cass has been away at school for a month and Santana misses her like crazy.

"Hey babe, what's wrong?"

Santana looks up at the sound of her voice and offers her a small smile. "Oh hey. Nothing. Just thinking."

Santana misses Cass like crazy, but she won't admit it.

Brittany sits down on the couch and pulls Santana into her body. Santana rests her head on Brittany's chest and Brittany revels in the small moment when she first gets to soak in Santana after a day at work. "Just thinking?"

"Yeah."

"Santana," Brittany coos.

"Hmmm?"

"It's okay to miss her, you know. I miss her."

Santana turns her head further into Brittany's chest and grumbles. "I don't miss her that much."

Brittany runs her fingers through Santana's hair the way she knows makes Santana relax. "If you say so."

"I'm just so bored," comes the muffled reply. "Today I watched three hours of Toddlers and Tiaras." Santana looks up at her, her face contorted in annoyance. "I fucking _hate_ Toddlers and Tiaras, Britt."

Brittany hums in sympathy. "I think you need a hobby."

"No," Santana groans. "I hate doing things."

"Oh my God," Brittany laughs. "You're impossible."

Santana smiles finally. "I know. That's why you love me."

Brittany rolls her eyes playfully. "One of many reasons. Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately!" Santana laughs and pokes Brittany. She digs her fingers into Brittany's side, tickling her until her eyes squint shut and she can't breathe.

"Stop! Stop! I can't breathe! I'm going into Cadillac arrest!"

The fingers attacking her stop their movements and she opens her eyes to see Santana smiling fondly at her. "Cardiac arrest, B. Not Cadillac arrest."

"That's what I meant."

Santana giggles. "I know."

They look at each other for a moment, until Santana scrunches her nose playfully. "I love you, Britt."

Brittany feels her stomach bottom out the way it always has since she first started dating Santana. She wonders if that will ever stop happening. "I love you too, S."

Santana smiles meekly. "I guess I miss her. Like kind of a lot."

Brittany shakes her head, not the person to say I-told-you-so. "I know."

"I guess I just forgot what it's like to not have someone around all the time."

Brittany offers Santana an understanding smile. "I know. You've still got me, though."

"Yeah," Santana rests her head back on Brittany's chest. "At least I've still got you."

* * *

When Brittany enters the bar on Wednesday night, she's reminded a lot of the first time she met Santana.

The air is just starting to cool and she pulls her beanie off of her head as she sits down at the bar. She pulls out her phone and frowns at the text from Quinn, telling Brittany she's going to be a little late.

She smiles when a familiar voice pulls her back to reality. "Can I get you something?"

Brittany looks up to see her wife smiling gently at her and her stomach does that weird bottoming out thing again. "What's good here?"

Santana laughs and turns around to make Brittany a drink. Brittany admires the way Santana's jeans hug her butt. God, her wife is sexilicious. Brittany narrows her eyes and glances around to make sure nobody else is eyeing Santana. Although, people should look at Santana… her wife is the _hottest_. Except they shouldn't look at her too much… okay. Whatever. Nobody is around. It is a Wednesday after all.

Brittany frowns. She forgot to wear pink.

As Santana sets a drink in front of her with a wink, Brittany thinks back to that night two years ago when she first walked into Puckerman's and saw Santana. She thinks of Santana's quiet, lonely eyes and her hidden insecurities. She remembers how she was able to make Santana smile and how for the first time in her life, Brittany felt like she was unsteady in her body, like she might fall if she stood up from the stool she sat on.

She remembers the possessive feeling in her gut when that dickwad sleazed his way up to Santana and the red hot pang of jealousy in her stomach. The moment of courage and magnetic desire that caused her to flirt with this beautiful, sad, perfect girl.

Brittany doesn't know if she believes in God or in fate or in coincidence… but meeting Santana? That was meant to be.

She takes a sip of the beer Santana gave her, watching her wife jab Puck in the chest playfully, his hands coming up in surrender and Brittany feels unsteady again, like she's falling…

"Hey Britt."

Brittany snaps out of her reverie as Quinn sits next to her, her hands unwinding the scarf around her neck, long blonde hair settling gracefully over her shoulders.

"Hi Quinn," Brittany says, smiling as they settle into what's now a familiar routine of drinking, talking, and watching Santana and Puck work.

Quinn is showing her some pictures on her phone of the venue that she and Puck chose for their wedding (they're getting married in the spring) when Brittany senses a shift in the atmosphere around her.

Her eyes automatically and unconsciously search for Santana and finally settle on her at the opposite end of the bar from where they're sitting. Santana has one hand resting on the flat surface of the bar, the other holding a clean white towel that was clearly being used for wiping down the bar top. It's a familiar sight, but the look on Santana's face is one that has lost its familiarity over the past two years.

Brittany feels a pang in her chest, unsteady and sad.

"Hey Q, I have to talk to Santana really quick, hold that thought."

Quinn looks up, her eyes finding Santana, and nods in understanding. "Sure thing, B."

Brittany leaves Quinn and walks over to where Santana is standing. She puts her hand over Santana's hand that's sitting on the bar. "Hey Lonely Eyes," she says gently.

Santana meets her eyes and smiles softly. "Hi."

"What are you doing?"

Santana waves the towel in the air. "Cleaning." She raises an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

Brittany smirks. "I've been admiring your butt in those jeans actually. You're like, totally the crunchy toast, babe."

Santana crinkles her nose. "I don't know what that means."

Brittany shrugs. "It means you're the hottest."

"Then I think _you're_ the crunchy toast, Britt-Britt."

"Hmmm, duh," Brittany smiles. "So…"

"So…?"

Brittany looks Santana in the eye. "Why are you standing over here all sad-like?"

Santana looks away. "I'm not."

"Santana…"

"I don't know what you want me to say, B." Santana sets the towel down on the bar and crosses her arms across her chest. Brittany aches, her heart a deep and bruising apple. Why does Santana get like this?

"Hey," Brittany says in a low voice. Santana's eyes flicker toward her and back away again. "Sweetheart."

Santana uncrosses her arms. "It's fine, Britt. Just let it go." She sighs as a customer gets her attention.

Brittany pouts. "Santana."

"I have to get back to work."

"Babe – "

"Seriously, Britt." Santana forces a smile. "I'm fine. Let it go."

She moves away and Brittany goes back to her seat next to Quinn, the words echoing in her head.

She'd let it go if she could, but she doesn't think that she can.

* * *

Brittany spends the next few days being extra soft around Santana and her wife loosens up a bit. They goof around and watch stupid rom-coms and Santana makes her pancakes on Friday before she leaves for school.

Through it all though, Santana has those eyes, the ones that seem to swallow the night sky. Brittany gets lost in them and sometimes feels like she can't breathe. She wonders how Santana feels and tries to think of a way to make them disappear. She'd do anything.

She mulls ideas over and over again in her head, but she doesn't think of anything.

Until suddenly she does.

* * *

Brittany gets up early on Saturday and makes coffee, hoping Santana will sleep long enough for her plan to work perfectly.

She had set it all up yesterday, making the call and arranging the time correctly.

She basically is the best master-planner ever. They should make a TV show about her, seriously.

When she hears the key in the lock, her heart speeds up faster than that time she almost set the apartment on fire. She bounds to the front hallway just as the door opens.

"Fucking snow," grumbles the intruder, but the rest of the words get lost in translation as Brittany picks her up and swings her around in a giant bear hug.

"Argh, B, put me down!"

Brittany sets Cass down and grabs her by the shoulders, getting a good look at her. There are snowflakes in her hair and her cheeks are tinged red from the cold, but she looks full and happy.

"Hi," says Cass, smiling as she shrugs cutely.

"Hi." Brittany smiles back, her heart feeling fuller than it has in ages. "How was the subway?"

Cass shrugs and rolls her eyes. "Same old."

Brittany nods. "I'm so glad you were able to come home."

"I've been meaning to," Cass says. The make their way into the kitchen and Brittany pours Cass a cup of coffee. "I've just been so busy." She takes a sip of the liquid, sighing happily as the warmth settles in her stomach. "Where's Santana?"

"She's still sleeping," Brittany shrugs.

Cass nods. "So… how's she been? You sounded weird on the phone…"

Brittany looks in the direction of their bedroom, as if she could see Santana from where she was. "I don't know. She hasn't been bad, really. I think she just is kind of lonely when she has nobody to bicker with." Brittany smiles when Cass chuckles.

"Well, I missed you guys. Margot," Cass rolls her eyes, "has been driving me insane. I swear to God, if she comments on my shading one more time, I'm going to murder her."

Brittany smiles, the lightness in her chest feeling so wonderful that she can't even tell Cass to be nice. All she can do is smile and smile and smile until her cheeks hurt.

They talk a little more until Cass grumbles about not being appreciated for getting up early and stalks off. Brittany pours herself another cup of coffee. She wraps her palms around the mug, but jumps when she hears yelling from down the hall.

"TÍA WAKE UP!"

Brittany makes her way to her and Santana's bedroom, leaning against the doorjamb when she sees Cass standing over Santana on the bed. She jumps up and down lightly, her feet straddling Santana's blanket-covered mass. Santana groans and covers her head with the pillow.

"Five more minutes, Britt."

Cass jumps up and down harder. "Oh Tíaaaa. Wake up." Brittany feels so light that she might float away. Cass kicks out at the mass with her foot, eliciting a grunt from Santana.

Suddenly, the mass shifts, rolling so that Cass wobbles on the unstable mattress. The mass rolls just a little more until it knocks hard into Cass' legs and she loses balance completely, landing on Brittany's side of the bed with a loud shriek.

They're acting like five year olds and Brittany loves it.

This was possibly the best idea she's ever had.

"HEY!" Cass yells. "I GOT UP EARLY TO COME HERE AND NOW YOU'RE JUST SLEEPING THE WHOLE DAY AWAY?!"

Santana finally sits up, rubbing her eyes and yawning like she just woke up from a three thousand year slumber.

She looks at Cass' grumpy face glaring at her, then to Brittany, then back to Cass.

When she finally opens her mouth, it's not what Brittany was expecting at all, which was like, you know, a thank you or something. But no.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Cass snorts. "What the fuck are you still doing sleeping? It's almost eleven."

Santana looks at Brittany. "What the fuck is she doing here?"

Brittany almost feels disappointed, but there's a smile playing at the corners of Santana's mouth and when their eyes meet, Brittany finally feels relief flood in her chest at the happiness she sees reflecting back at her.

Brittany shrugs. "She made time to come visit."

"Which you are wasting," Cass interjects. "I'm starving and I want pancakes."

Santana scoffs. "You can't just come home, wake me up, and make demands."

Cass rolls her eyes. "Please. You missed me and you know it."

"As if," Santana says, but her voice is warm like honey and Brittany knows Santana's going to thank her for this later. "It's been wonderfully quiet without you."

Cass barks out a laugh and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. "Yeah right."

Brittany laughs at the horrified look on her wife's face. Cass flashes her a smile that she gladly returns.

"I hate you," Santana grumbles and slumps on her pillow.

"Cool, so when you get over that… I'd really like some pancakes. Thanks."

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

"GET UP!"

Brittany shakes her head in amusement as Cass kicks at Santana with her foot, resulting in some more yelling.

Santana and Cass can't do anything without arguing and it drives her insane. It's endearing, though, and like, she could watch them do it all day if it meant the feeling in her chest would never leave.

Brittany's always imagined the day she'd drop her baby off at college.

She just never imagined that it would feel so good when she came home again.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi! So due to a request and then continued popular demand... here is Cass at college. I've gotten quite a few prompts for College!Cass in my inbox which is GREAT. If your prompt wasn't fulfilled in this one-shot... FEAR NOT, FRIENDS! There is more coming, I promise :) anyone who put a prompt in my inbox will get what they want. They all just didn't fit in with this section. Therefore, this is going to be series of one-shots. So look forward to those! I'll get to them as soon as I can :) If you're reading this and decide you want a College!Cass prompt fulfilled, shoot me a message or leave it in my ask on my Tumblr! Thanks for reading and thanks for your interest in this little AU I've created.


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